Who’s in charge? Not I.
We think we can handle life and it’s nuisances all by ourselves. The truth is God doesn’t want you to. So why bother? We have a leader, our God is in charge! Be confident, us little sheep have a shepherd. Allow God to move mountains for you and watch his wondrous miracles dance around you!
Brothers & Sisters In Christ
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Today Is A Perfect "10"!
Today is a perfect “10”!!
Make everyday a perfect “10”. Gone are the days that feel like just a “2” or okay at a “5”.
Seek God always as only He can lift you up at any step of the way, at any time, place or circumstance.
Jacob had a dream of a ladder that reached to heaven, and he saw the angels of God ascending and descending on it. When he awoke from his sleep he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place –and I did not know it! Genesis 28:10-17.
Through your up’s and down’s, stay straight on your path and remain confident in KNOWING GOD is always with you. Trust and faith will turn your low days into “10’s”.
Stay on your personal ladder with the Angels and you’ll find God is with you every step of the way, right to the top!
Make everyday a perfect “10”. Gone are the days that feel like just a “2” or okay at a “5”.
Seek God always as only He can lift you up at any step of the way, at any time, place or circumstance.
Jacob had a dream of a ladder that reached to heaven, and he saw the angels of God ascending and descending on it. When he awoke from his sleep he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place –and I did not know it! Genesis 28:10-17.
Through your up’s and down’s, stay straight on your path and remain confident in KNOWING GOD is always with you. Trust and faith will turn your low days into “10’s”.
Stay on your personal ladder with the Angels and you’ll find God is with you every step of the way, right to the top!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
LORD BLESS MY HANDS
Lord bless my hands
So that they may define
Who I am
Help me to be conscious
Of doing for others
And not for myself
Open my eyes to your ways
So that I might imitate
And bring You honor.
Thank You dear Lord
For all Your gifts
Still unknown to me
I receive Your blessings
Knowing I am capable
Of all that You ask of me.
Amen.
So that they may define
Who I am
Help me to be conscious
Of doing for others
And not for myself
Open my eyes to your ways
So that I might imitate
And bring You honor.
Thank You dear Lord
For all Your gifts
Still unknown to me
I receive Your blessings
Knowing I am capable
Of all that You ask of me.
Amen.
Praise, Praise, Praise! You Are Amazing!
Praise, Praise, Praise! You are amazing!
Have you ever been praised by a friend or co-worker, and your family members dismissed their compliments? “She is so giving, with a heart of gold, a true blessing to all of us!” A family member responds, “Are you talking about my daughter and their sister?” She is weak, sensitive and has no real drive”. “You are fortunate Mr. Jones, your wife is so beautiful and a joy to all who meet her”. “What do you mean”, he thinks, “she does nothing special and her looks are ordinary”. “Sir, your son has an amazing spirit and a great love for God. You must cultivate his faith so that he may grow in his love for Christ, perhaps seek a life in priesthood, and be an example to us all.” Father’s response, “Father, I do not know what you are talking about, my son, just a teenager, is not even average, he stays in his room, only wants to read, he helps the old folks in our neighborhood, teaches little children, and does not speak much in the house, you must be talking about another boy”.
Did you know that Jesus taught in the synagogue and astounded many by His wisdom. The people knew that great deeds and power were with Him. However, they said, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” They took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them,
“Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown,
and among their own kin, and in their own house.”
Jesus could not do his great works among his own, because the people undervalued Him, were too close and were blinded by their own opinions and ideas about his life and worth!
All of us are special and we possess wonderful gifts we often call talents. We think our talent must be something so substantial that it should impress large audiences. We might even believe that talents are only those that could make us famous or rich.
The gifts that we possess may not necessarily be larger than life. Although we might envy someone who can sing like Celine Dion or Barbara Streisand or, we may badly imitate Michael Jackson’s moon dance and be laughed at for trying, we can mistakenly rate gifts according to the biggest in the eyes of the world.
Our gifts do not come from man, but from God. We may have a knack for writing, telling jokes, fixing computers, a head for numbers, or organizational skills. One might have extreme patience to work with the handicapped or compassion to work with the physically abused.
You might be the next Emeril, the next Mark Phelps, the next Mother Theresa, or the next Pope. You could be the neighborhood’s best shoe shiner, dog trainer, housekeeper, painter, landscaper, produce man, or hairstylist.
Be proud of what you do. There is nothing too menial, miniscule, or insignificant about your contribution to a work, home, community, country or world.
All things require skills, time, and effort by one or many to get a job done. Honor God for the gifts He’s given you. Take time to praise Him, praise others, and always work with passion and love in your heart. With a gift from the heart, it can only be glorified by God and will be received in the spirit for which it will be intended, "a gift to others".
Put your hands out in front of you and examine them. Think about the incredible intricacies of their structure; the bones, ligaments, nails, and creases. Now look at the scars, years, stories, places, experiences, and the time they have left to lend a hand, to create, and to bless.
Look around, you don’t have to go far to find gifts in others. Something simple, innocent or common can be the greatest gift. Look beyond the faults of yourself, your loved ones, friends and the world; the Lord knows we all have them and he looks beyond yours and loves you more than ever.
Praise all and you will quickly see how negativity fades. The more we praise, the closer we get to living like Jesus.
Pray with me:
LORD BLESS MY HANDS
Lord bless my hands
So that they may define
Who I am
Help me to be conscious
Of doing for others
And not for myself
Open my eyes to your ways
So that I might imitate
And bring You honor.
Thank You dear Lord
For all Your gifts
Still unknown to me
I receive Your blessings
Knowing I am capable
Of all that You ask of me.
Amen.
Have you ever been praised by a friend or co-worker, and your family members dismissed their compliments? “She is so giving, with a heart of gold, a true blessing to all of us!” A family member responds, “Are you talking about my daughter and their sister?” She is weak, sensitive and has no real drive”. “You are fortunate Mr. Jones, your wife is so beautiful and a joy to all who meet her”. “What do you mean”, he thinks, “she does nothing special and her looks are ordinary”. “Sir, your son has an amazing spirit and a great love for God. You must cultivate his faith so that he may grow in his love for Christ, perhaps seek a life in priesthood, and be an example to us all.” Father’s response, “Father, I do not know what you are talking about, my son, just a teenager, is not even average, he stays in his room, only wants to read, he helps the old folks in our neighborhood, teaches little children, and does not speak much in the house, you must be talking about another boy”.
Did you know that Jesus taught in the synagogue and astounded many by His wisdom. The people knew that great deeds and power were with Him. However, they said, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” They took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them,
“Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown,
and among their own kin, and in their own house.”
Jesus could not do his great works among his own, because the people undervalued Him, were too close and were blinded by their own opinions and ideas about his life and worth!
All of us are special and we possess wonderful gifts we often call talents. We think our talent must be something so substantial that it should impress large audiences. We might even believe that talents are only those that could make us famous or rich.
The gifts that we possess may not necessarily be larger than life. Although we might envy someone who can sing like Celine Dion or Barbara Streisand or, we may badly imitate Michael Jackson’s moon dance and be laughed at for trying, we can mistakenly rate gifts according to the biggest in the eyes of the world.
Our gifts do not come from man, but from God. We may have a knack for writing, telling jokes, fixing computers, a head for numbers, or organizational skills. One might have extreme patience to work with the handicapped or compassion to work with the physically abused.
You might be the next Emeril, the next Mark Phelps, the next Mother Theresa, or the next Pope. You could be the neighborhood’s best shoe shiner, dog trainer, housekeeper, painter, landscaper, produce man, or hairstylist.
Be proud of what you do. There is nothing too menial, miniscule, or insignificant about your contribution to a work, home, community, country or world.
All things require skills, time, and effort by one or many to get a job done. Honor God for the gifts He’s given you. Take time to praise Him, praise others, and always work with passion and love in your heart. With a gift from the heart, it can only be glorified by God and will be received in the spirit for which it will be intended, "a gift to others".
Put your hands out in front of you and examine them. Think about the incredible intricacies of their structure; the bones, ligaments, nails, and creases. Now look at the scars, years, stories, places, experiences, and the time they have left to lend a hand, to create, and to bless.
Look around, you don’t have to go far to find gifts in others. Something simple, innocent or common can be the greatest gift. Look beyond the faults of yourself, your loved ones, friends and the world; the Lord knows we all have them and he looks beyond yours and loves you more than ever.
Praise all and you will quickly see how negativity fades. The more we praise, the closer we get to living like Jesus.
Pray with me:
LORD BLESS MY HANDS
Lord bless my hands
So that they may define
Who I am
Help me to be conscious
Of doing for others
And not for myself
Open my eyes to your ways
So that I might imitate
And bring You honor.
Thank You dear Lord
For all Your gifts
Still unknown to me
I receive Your blessings
Knowing I am capable
Of all that You ask of me.
Amen.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
It's Time To Wake Up!!
It’s time to wake up!
“R-i-i-n-n-n-g-g, r-i-i-n-n-n-g-g”, the alarm clock shrieked. “Ugh”, you grunt. “It’s time to get uuuuupp. I doon’t want tooouuuuoo”, you moan with mild force as you squeeze the words out of your throat rather than a breath from your lungs. “I just want to sleheheheepp!” You lie there, with your eyes closed, pleading to . . . no one. . “Just a few minutes more”.
“Wow”, you murmur through a clouded mind, “these forty winks are more restful than the whole night’s sleep”. Suddenly, an intensifying feeling comes over you. As though traveling through a quick time warp you feel as though a huge chunk of time has zipped passed you. Your body spasms, as your “mind time clock” produces an earsplitting ring inside your sleepy head. You are jolted out of your trance, and spring up like a jack-in-the-box that’s reached its last tight tension-filled turn, and boom#@!*&^ - that triggered the lurch that almost pulled your back out.
With blurred vision, you obscurely look at the clock and realize that only minutes have passed. As your body relaxes, you quickly become tranquil and are tempted to lie down once more. Fighting the reality all the way and knowing yourself all too well, you briskly toss the blanket off your warm body and it lands heavily on the person who was sleeping peacefully next to you (okay you could be alone-there are worse things in life-oh, I’m sorry, you like it that way, yeah right . . .). You clumsily walk toward the bathroom with your equilibrium still off and eyes half closed, turning your feet in toward the center of your torso, one foot in front of the other trying to gain balance from your intoxicating doze. You reach the vanity and in an attempt to place both hands on the counter top your wrists roll clumsily and land palms up, causing them to bear unnecessary weight. You then give in to a rounded back and let your heavy head hang for a nanosecond (any Mork & Mindy fans?).
You pull it together and gather the strength to lift your head and look up into the mirror and see . . . a version of you. “Not bad,” you think examining yourself, turning your head side to side. “Only a few locks of hair out of place” (of course you would never admit to having that special-do, with a diagonal parting of the hair and interesting lifts, flat planes and Mohawks that could never be duplicated with mousse and hair-freeze). You’ve got slightly swollen eye lids, a crease or two on the side of your cheeks, and lightly pursed lips that complete the niggling your started since the first sound of the morning’s alarm (question: first time for you or perhaps a regular break of day routine?).
Is this funny? Yes. I think it’s something we can all relate to. Is this the way to feel after a night’s rest? No.
Webster’s Dictionary definition of rest (“Webster” is my close friend this week) is: peace, ease, and refreshment as produced by sleep. Other definition: relief from anything distressing, disturbing, annoying, tiring, peace of mind; mental and emotional calm; tranquility.
Wake up people! It’s a new day. The day you proclaim to be rested, refreshed, awakened, alive and ready to live!
I am reminded of the lyrics of a beautiful hymn that is often sung in church, “Be not afraid, I go before you always, come, follow me, and I will give you rest”. Isn’t God good! He wants you to rest. He wants you to give him all your troubles. Why don’t you. Do it right now. Give it all to him. Let go of all that went wrong yesterday. Let go of everything you’re not looking forward to today. Today’s a new day and you WILL ENJOY IT!!
Now, let’s dedicate some time get acquainted with “rest”.
Genesis 2:1 “Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.” So, don’t do it, don’t work on Sunday. Don’t work on the house, don’t work on the yard, don’t pay the bills, don’t work on yourself, just enjoy the day! Visit your family and friends. Take a brisk walk in the morning while the air is still cool. Read two pages from an inspirational book that will set an encouraging tone for the day. Do take time and devote it to God. It would please Him immensely! Start the morning off with your seat at church. Okay, sometimes the priests, deacons, preachers, and/or reverends might be a little hard to, well, understand. Cut them a little slack. Perhaps they have not perfected your cool way of speaking and communicating, everyone’s not perfect. However, they have dedicated their lives to Christ and, well, to you. So tolerate their accent, get past their odd, rather, different way of “splaining” things. The message is what’s important. Follow along with the readings, get what you can out of it. You might try writing down the scripture cites and read them again at home. It’s okay to invest a little more time; this great message will carry you through the week (you might try to attend church at a different hour or try out a different church-that actually is kind of fun and adventurous).
Moses was to lead the Israelites through the desert and asked the Lord to be with him. The Lord said to Moses, “I myself will go along to give you rest”. Exodus 34:14. Come on, really, who wants to do anything alone. It’s always better to do things with someone, especially someone you can trust. You can trust in God. He doesn’t want you to work hard. He doesn’t want you to stay where you are at. He wants you to advance, to prosper. Yeah, so we’ll go through trying times, we can’t avoid it. Moses and his friends were to take a few days journey and wound up being lost for 40 years (because of their disobedience to God) just trying to find their new home. But hey, the good news, God will be with you every step of the way until you get it. So, come on troubles, hit me with your best shot!
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Matthew 12:28. Okay, yes you have to work and you’ve got great responsibilities. Who doesn’t? You don’t like it? Why what bothers you about it? Is there a co-worker you don’t like? Are your relatives too much in your business? Too many questions? Do they have a few hang ups? Too quiet? Too . . . . what? Well, hello, reality check, we’ve all got idiosyncrasies. Look, this guy or gal may not have had the best people around them growing up. Maybe this person has been burned one too many times. Perhaps through out this guy’s life he’s been ignored. What’s it going to hurt for you to pay a little attention to the man (or woman, I’m not being “a hater”). Ask some questions about his life. Have some compassion. Buy the guy lunch. Do something nice for him to make him smile, make him feel cared about. Stop judging and start being meek and humble of heart. It worked for Jesus, why not for you!!!
Okay, these parables and quotes from “The Bible” may not necessarily be familiar to you, however, the words are powerful (Yippee!! Doesn’t it make you want to open up your beautiful book – you will!). Oooh, I’m so excited for you!
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil (to prepare Him for his death) and dried His feet with her hair (you’ll have to read the story, it’s so moving). Jesus loved his friend Lazarus and went to see him. Jesus said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” John 11:4. Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” But Jesus was talking about his death (resurrection – heaven), while they thought that He meant ordinary sleep.
Jesus stayed with his friend for two days and then told his Disciples that they would return to Judea. The Disciples reminded Him that the Jews were trying to stone Him in Judea and advised him not to return, and Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
What is the light the shines in you? I’m not talking about a talent (however, gifts should not be ignored and definitely shared). What makes you who you are? Who are we imitating? Each other? Okay, here’s an eye opener: We are not our best example (sorry, I know the truth hurts doesn’t it? I know, I thought I was a good model too.) Jesus came so that we would know how to behave. I’ve only lived for 50 years and I have yet to come across anyone who comes close to living a life like Jesus did.
So what does that mean, well, we all have the same opportunity to be His best imitator. You know how we mortals are, always wanting to be like someone else. We’ll just skip all the non-sense and get right to the crux of the matter, Jesus is our guy! He’s the Man! The one we shall imitate. Man, woman or child – we choose Jesus! Yes, I knew you were smart.
Don’t you feel great!!!! Now, you are a new person, with a new attitude. This is wonderful, seeing all this change. I didn’t think there would be so many of you excited about transformation!!! And you thought you were living before, huh!!!
This is a new day, unlike all other past days. When the morning comes and your alarm sounds you will know joy like never before.
It is God’s desire that we all enjoy and are happy on this earth that he created. That we would be free from troubles and he specifically asks us to cast all our cares upon Him.
At night, when you are ready to rest your body from your day, I’d imagine that it would be God’s hope that you:
Enjoyed the time you had with others at work, at home and at play. That you were able to see beyond everyone’s faults, as God sees you beyond yours. That you were able to use the gifts that God gave you to help others, assist an employer fulfill a dream, bring a smile to another’s face, and to feel the satisfaction that comes from thinking of others rather than yourself. That you were able to prepare a meal with love, or receive and appreciate the time and labor for a meal prepared for you. That you would come out of your protective “self” and share your money (yes, that’s what I said, share it if you’ve got some to spare), time, energy and life with others. Hey people, we can’t take it with us. God does provide! He’d hope that you may find reward during your day and recall the moment that you brought warmth to a life, a family, a smile to someone’s face, laughter to a lonely person or place, or shared a warm meal with someone who feels deserted or secluded. God will bless you because you were patient, kind, and loving to those who have not found their way just yet.
You’ll see that when you’ve given what you think is “your all” or your “last dollar”, you’ll always receive more. God’s got some in reserve for you baby. He’s got your back!
Yes, believe that when you lay your head down to rest at night, your body will rebuild and refuel itself, and in your dreams you’ll recall the day’s good works and sleep soundly.
When the alarm sounds in the morning, you will feel confident that while you slept God was working on a great plan for you.
I pray that you hear the beautiful bells, harps and chimes that play a heavenly song to arouse you from a rest that only God’s light can provide. Live in his light, follow it throughout your day and life. There is no fear when the sun goes down, because God protects those who praise Him, who live for Him, and He blesses those who are a blessing to others.
I’m happy you that you will be awakening rested and ready. While you are here making God’s earthly creation a better place, He is above, out of sight, hard at work, preserving your Heaven. “Do not be afraid, I’ll go before you always. Come follow me, and I will give you rest.”
Don’t you just love being a child of God!
“R-i-i-n-n-n-g-g, r-i-i-n-n-n-g-g”, the alarm clock shrieked. “Ugh”, you grunt. “It’s time to get uuuuupp. I doon’t want tooouuuuoo”, you moan with mild force as you squeeze the words out of your throat rather than a breath from your lungs. “I just want to sleheheheepp!” You lie there, with your eyes closed, pleading to . . . no one. . “Just a few minutes more”.
“Wow”, you murmur through a clouded mind, “these forty winks are more restful than the whole night’s sleep”. Suddenly, an intensifying feeling comes over you. As though traveling through a quick time warp you feel as though a huge chunk of time has zipped passed you. Your body spasms, as your “mind time clock” produces an earsplitting ring inside your sleepy head. You are jolted out of your trance, and spring up like a jack-in-the-box that’s reached its last tight tension-filled turn, and boom#@!*&^ - that triggered the lurch that almost pulled your back out.
With blurred vision, you obscurely look at the clock and realize that only minutes have passed. As your body relaxes, you quickly become tranquil and are tempted to lie down once more. Fighting the reality all the way and knowing yourself all too well, you briskly toss the blanket off your warm body and it lands heavily on the person who was sleeping peacefully next to you (okay you could be alone-there are worse things in life-oh, I’m sorry, you like it that way, yeah right . . .). You clumsily walk toward the bathroom with your equilibrium still off and eyes half closed, turning your feet in toward the center of your torso, one foot in front of the other trying to gain balance from your intoxicating doze. You reach the vanity and in an attempt to place both hands on the counter top your wrists roll clumsily and land palms up, causing them to bear unnecessary weight. You then give in to a rounded back and let your heavy head hang for a nanosecond (any Mork & Mindy fans?).
You pull it together and gather the strength to lift your head and look up into the mirror and see . . . a version of you. “Not bad,” you think examining yourself, turning your head side to side. “Only a few locks of hair out of place” (of course you would never admit to having that special-do, with a diagonal parting of the hair and interesting lifts, flat planes and Mohawks that could never be duplicated with mousse and hair-freeze). You’ve got slightly swollen eye lids, a crease or two on the side of your cheeks, and lightly pursed lips that complete the niggling your started since the first sound of the morning’s alarm (question: first time for you or perhaps a regular break of day routine?).
Is this funny? Yes. I think it’s something we can all relate to. Is this the way to feel after a night’s rest? No.
Webster’s Dictionary definition of rest (“Webster” is my close friend this week) is: peace, ease, and refreshment as produced by sleep. Other definition: relief from anything distressing, disturbing, annoying, tiring, peace of mind; mental and emotional calm; tranquility.
Wake up people! It’s a new day. The day you proclaim to be rested, refreshed, awakened, alive and ready to live!
I am reminded of the lyrics of a beautiful hymn that is often sung in church, “Be not afraid, I go before you always, come, follow me, and I will give you rest”. Isn’t God good! He wants you to rest. He wants you to give him all your troubles. Why don’t you. Do it right now. Give it all to him. Let go of all that went wrong yesterday. Let go of everything you’re not looking forward to today. Today’s a new day and you WILL ENJOY IT!!
Now, let’s dedicate some time get acquainted with “rest”.
Genesis 2:1 “Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.” So, don’t do it, don’t work on Sunday. Don’t work on the house, don’t work on the yard, don’t pay the bills, don’t work on yourself, just enjoy the day! Visit your family and friends. Take a brisk walk in the morning while the air is still cool. Read two pages from an inspirational book that will set an encouraging tone for the day. Do take time and devote it to God. It would please Him immensely! Start the morning off with your seat at church. Okay, sometimes the priests, deacons, preachers, and/or reverends might be a little hard to, well, understand. Cut them a little slack. Perhaps they have not perfected your cool way of speaking and communicating, everyone’s not perfect. However, they have dedicated their lives to Christ and, well, to you. So tolerate their accent, get past their odd, rather, different way of “splaining” things. The message is what’s important. Follow along with the readings, get what you can out of it. You might try writing down the scripture cites and read them again at home. It’s okay to invest a little more time; this great message will carry you through the week (you might try to attend church at a different hour or try out a different church-that actually is kind of fun and adventurous).
Moses was to lead the Israelites through the desert and asked the Lord to be with him. The Lord said to Moses, “I myself will go along to give you rest”. Exodus 34:14. Come on, really, who wants to do anything alone. It’s always better to do things with someone, especially someone you can trust. You can trust in God. He doesn’t want you to work hard. He doesn’t want you to stay where you are at. He wants you to advance, to prosper. Yeah, so we’ll go through trying times, we can’t avoid it. Moses and his friends were to take a few days journey and wound up being lost for 40 years (because of their disobedience to God) just trying to find their new home. But hey, the good news, God will be with you every step of the way until you get it. So, come on troubles, hit me with your best shot!
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Matthew 12:28. Okay, yes you have to work and you’ve got great responsibilities. Who doesn’t? You don’t like it? Why what bothers you about it? Is there a co-worker you don’t like? Are your relatives too much in your business? Too many questions? Do they have a few hang ups? Too quiet? Too . . . . what? Well, hello, reality check, we’ve all got idiosyncrasies. Look, this guy or gal may not have had the best people around them growing up. Maybe this person has been burned one too many times. Perhaps through out this guy’s life he’s been ignored. What’s it going to hurt for you to pay a little attention to the man (or woman, I’m not being “a hater”). Ask some questions about his life. Have some compassion. Buy the guy lunch. Do something nice for him to make him smile, make him feel cared about. Stop judging and start being meek and humble of heart. It worked for Jesus, why not for you!!!
Okay, these parables and quotes from “The Bible” may not necessarily be familiar to you, however, the words are powerful (Yippee!! Doesn’t it make you want to open up your beautiful book – you will!). Oooh, I’m so excited for you!
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil (to prepare Him for his death) and dried His feet with her hair (you’ll have to read the story, it’s so moving). Jesus loved his friend Lazarus and went to see him. Jesus said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” John 11:4. Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” But Jesus was talking about his death (resurrection – heaven), while they thought that He meant ordinary sleep.
Jesus stayed with his friend for two days and then told his Disciples that they would return to Judea. The Disciples reminded Him that the Jews were trying to stone Him in Judea and advised him not to return, and Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
What is the light the shines in you? I’m not talking about a talent (however, gifts should not be ignored and definitely shared). What makes you who you are? Who are we imitating? Each other? Okay, here’s an eye opener: We are not our best example (sorry, I know the truth hurts doesn’t it? I know, I thought I was a good model too.) Jesus came so that we would know how to behave. I’ve only lived for 50 years and I have yet to come across anyone who comes close to living a life like Jesus did.
So what does that mean, well, we all have the same opportunity to be His best imitator. You know how we mortals are, always wanting to be like someone else. We’ll just skip all the non-sense and get right to the crux of the matter, Jesus is our guy! He’s the Man! The one we shall imitate. Man, woman or child – we choose Jesus! Yes, I knew you were smart.
Don’t you feel great!!!! Now, you are a new person, with a new attitude. This is wonderful, seeing all this change. I didn’t think there would be so many of you excited about transformation!!! And you thought you were living before, huh!!!
This is a new day, unlike all other past days. When the morning comes and your alarm sounds you will know joy like never before.
It is God’s desire that we all enjoy and are happy on this earth that he created. That we would be free from troubles and he specifically asks us to cast all our cares upon Him.
At night, when you are ready to rest your body from your day, I’d imagine that it would be God’s hope that you:
Enjoyed the time you had with others at work, at home and at play. That you were able to see beyond everyone’s faults, as God sees you beyond yours. That you were able to use the gifts that God gave you to help others, assist an employer fulfill a dream, bring a smile to another’s face, and to feel the satisfaction that comes from thinking of others rather than yourself. That you were able to prepare a meal with love, or receive and appreciate the time and labor for a meal prepared for you. That you would come out of your protective “self” and share your money (yes, that’s what I said, share it if you’ve got some to spare), time, energy and life with others. Hey people, we can’t take it with us. God does provide! He’d hope that you may find reward during your day and recall the moment that you brought warmth to a life, a family, a smile to someone’s face, laughter to a lonely person or place, or shared a warm meal with someone who feels deserted or secluded. God will bless you because you were patient, kind, and loving to those who have not found their way just yet.
You’ll see that when you’ve given what you think is “your all” or your “last dollar”, you’ll always receive more. God’s got some in reserve for you baby. He’s got your back!
Yes, believe that when you lay your head down to rest at night, your body will rebuild and refuel itself, and in your dreams you’ll recall the day’s good works and sleep soundly.
When the alarm sounds in the morning, you will feel confident that while you slept God was working on a great plan for you.
I pray that you hear the beautiful bells, harps and chimes that play a heavenly song to arouse you from a rest that only God’s light can provide. Live in his light, follow it throughout your day and life. There is no fear when the sun goes down, because God protects those who praise Him, who live for Him, and He blesses those who are a blessing to others.
I’m happy you that you will be awakening rested and ready. While you are here making God’s earthly creation a better place, He is above, out of sight, hard at work, preserving your Heaven. “Do not be afraid, I’ll go before you always. Come follow me, and I will give you rest.”
Don’t you just love being a child of God!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Show Me The Love!
“I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow”. . . What beautiful lyrics. What a great way to live, always giving more in the present, and expecting great things in the future.
Love the people in your life with that kind of passion. Actions speak louder than words, show them how you care. Make a special meal for someone, use your best dishes, pick a flower from your garden, perhaps light a candle. Use a heart cookie cutter on the next PB&J sandwich you make. Buy a small gift for grandma “just because”. Wrap a pretty ribbon around some of your favorite inspirational books and pass them on to someone who would enjoy them. The ideas are endless, so is love!!!
Have a blessed day!
Love the people in your life with that kind of passion. Actions speak louder than words, show them how you care. Make a special meal for someone, use your best dishes, pick a flower from your garden, perhaps light a candle. Use a heart cookie cutter on the next PB&J sandwich you make. Buy a small gift for grandma “just because”. Wrap a pretty ribbon around some of your favorite inspirational books and pass them on to someone who would enjoy them. The ideas are endless, so is love!!!
Have a blessed day!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Let's get stirred up! Peaceful Mornings
Let’s get stirred up!
We are experts at ignoring ourselves. We fill the hours of our days with things that divert our attention away from us. We work because we have to pay the bills (because what are the odds of winning the lotto). We are in school to obtain a degree. We care for our children, spouses, parents or grandparents who are ill or elderly. We are raising a family and arrange for a multitude of activities to keep them well-rounded (it would be inhumane to have a child who couldn’t throw a baseball from first to second base properly while simultaneously playing basketball, soccer, learning karate, taking part in ballet and art lessons and attending a learning center for improvement of school work). We are working on a relationship, and sometimes it can be draining (don’t forget now, we could be the one who is draining the other by our chop chop attitude). We cope with family or friends who seem to attract drama (because we all know it’s not you). And if that is not enough, we fill our days with long lists of things to do, as if we didn’t already have enough stress.
At the end of our day we plop ourselves in front of the television as a happy reward from all things done or left undone. We even go so far as to immerse ourselves into television trials, car chases, and reality shows. We engross ourselves into the lives of others such as music artists, big screen celebrities, and television personalities. We watch and form opinions over the media’s daily display of their lives until every last ugly detail is dug up and exhausted.
But do the problems of the world, the fictional storylines in a movie, the laughs we have over a sitcom or a late night talk show host that takes digs at the day’s “people in the news” really make us happy.
We have all heard that anything worth having takes self-sacrifice so that we are able to enjoy the attainment of the end product. We may have saved for a new book, music cd, cell phone, car, house, vacation, school trip, new church building, funeral expense for the future or for the unexpected loss of a loved one. We may have worked overtime, skipping some really cool parties to save money, shared meals, ate from the fridge rather than a restaurant, shopped at the dollar store, saved recyclable containers, stopped buying clothes, cutting our own hair (oh well, the rest of the world must suffer while you scrimp), a garage sale, car wash, and even sold candy. It felt good once we attained those things (of course that is after we griped about it as we went through the process). Self satisfaction is a wonderful thing, wouldn’t you agree?
How long did it make us feel good? Perhaps until we found something else that we wanted or something else that we were forced to do. Sometimes we find ourselves wanting things we don’t need. We want things we can’t afford. We will even go into debt just to obtain our latest desires (boo hoo, our subconscious is the constant victim of advertising). What is it that we are searching for? What are we lacking? I imagine you’ve heard money can’t buy happiness, love or friends. Well, some might argue that they have, but what happens when the money runs out? What is left? Where are the friends? Where is that person that said they once loved you. We are once again back to self.
Let’s get stirred up! Challenge ourselves. Rather, challenge our unconscious-selves. Let’s find out who we are behind our tasks, behind our money, behind our mouths. Allow ourselves to explore the side that is buried beneath layers of “stuff” (or junk, I’m not sure). It will be truly a remarkable day and experience when we discover our true-selves once stripped of our unconscious protection, “our lives”.
Your unconscious self is your spiritual self. Uh oh, don’t let that scare you off. I know spirit has gotten a bad wrap. Well, I am not speaking about bad spirits left behind in a home where a person may have died nor am I talking about being over-the-top “a spiritual person” (however, loving God beyond anything on earth is not a negative thing, rather it has immense blessings attached to it – other story, some other time). I’m talking about how you feel inside. Webster’s Dictionary definition of spirit: breath, courage, vigor, the soul, life. Another definition: the thinking, motivating, feeling part of man, often as distinguished from the body, mind, intelligence. Another: life, will, consciousness, thought, regarded as separate from the body. Once aware of one’s spiritual-self life is stirred to an extraordinary elevated level.
In the midst of the wild pace of life stop for some sorely needed “down-time”. Make a decision to allot for the most important activity of the day, “me-time”. Enjoy the quiet. Take distinctive steps away from the hustle and bustle of a noise-filled life.
Try this. It will not cost you a dime. You can go dressed any which way you like. You won’t have to do your hair or even take a shower (yikes, it’s okay, you’ll be by yourself). No gas in the car required. You won’t have to cart around a heavy purse, tote bag, sports bag, or wallet. All that will be required is an itsie, bitsie, teenie, weenie, bit of time.
Before you read on remember: anything worth having will require some self-sacrifice. Enjoy the experience.
Stand outside your home at dawn when the sun is just beginning to rise, when the brisk morning air is a perfect mix of warmth and cool morning dew. Close your eyes for a moment while breathing in and out slowly. Listen as the birds sporadically chirp in layers as if waking the world person by person, house by house with a sonnet. Open your eyes and begin to walk through your neighborhood and as you pass the neighbors’ homes look closely at their landscaping, at the vibrant diverse colors that somehow work together perfectly. Watch how the flowers that were closed as if sleeping start to open as they wake to the first hints of the morning sun. Witness the humming birds feeding off of sweet flowers and the ants as they start their morning parade. Take in the incredible sight of the water drops that are holding on to grass blades sparkling from the first morning rays. Watch with wonder as birds swoop and glide from tree to tree as they move through their morning rituals. Smell the sweet aroma of honey suckle shrubs and vines that fills the brisk morning air like perfume. So early and perfect is the time that the darkness from the night harmonizes with the first light of day creating a perfect non-descript heart warming color. Then finally turn to yourself. Commence a heartfelt prayer to your Creator giving thanks as you awaken your mind and body to His works. Be awed by the miraculous body that was formed for your existence. Behold your breath as it moves through your air passages to your lungs, become aware of your blood as it pushes through your perfect limbs and vital organs that gives you life, and detect the pulse points on the sides of your neck, on your head, your wrists. Imagine your soul and the vigor and life that it possesses; sense the serene feeling that allows it’s existence without clutter or distraction. Feel the motivation that is stirred up from the feeling of purity of mind. Clutch the ignition of your faith that comes from simply knowing you are loved by God. There is not a more perfect time in your day when you get into “self”.
You are now aware of your spiritual-self and your life is roused to an extraordinary elevated plane. Have you ever experienced such a wonderful moment in time, as being completely aware of what it’s like to be “you”.
Stay with me now. Don’t be too disappointed about what is to come because you can change the outcome. Are you ready? Let do it.
As the sun starts to warm the earth and touches the plants, flowers and our bodies, things start to change. The sound of the birds’ sonnets that were light with beautiful verses and rhyme are now musical and is slowly becoming more intense, and finally reaching a crescendo to match the height of the bright morning sun.
The human aspects of the world are coming to and the peace slowly is fading from it’s intimate place. Metal garage doors begin to open, cars move about the street as people head to work and school. They do not notice you pass and you hear the hurried and harsh first conversations of families as they rush to their morning destinations. The illumination of the solar lights that kept a comforting protection for the home during the darkness has now turn out and the beauty of this earth has begun to fade away. Other walkers are moving about the neighborhood keeping their stride and to their side of the street, joggers pass without even a glance at you. How quickly beauty turns to dreariness.
We have an opportunity, rather, a responsibility to keep what the Lord has given us and hold it in it’s highest esteem. We can preserve and carry this wonderful feeling of our spiritual self throughout our day and lives. Change begins with us. Make every minute of everyday like the perfect morning. Acknowledge people, wave, greet, smile, help and forgive them. Stop and smell the roses, touch their delicate skins and enjoy the splendor of the beautiful colors and aromas.
An awareness of God and his creation kindles an internal love. Love brings on a thankful attitude, which blossoms into a grateful feeling. A grateful feeling will bud an enlightened spirit. An enlightened spirit will develop a helpful disposition. A helpful disposition will heed a positive reaction. A positive reaction will spark a genuine smile. A genuine smile will stir up a warm heart. A warm heart will attract other cool, tepid, and tender hearts. Now filled with compassion, hearts will work and win against resistance. Resistance will surrender as it loses its force. Lack of force means less agitation. A shortage of agitation eradicates pettiness. The disappearance of pettiness causes us to see the good in others. The good in others becomes a desirable quality. A desirable quality develops into good values. Good values cause a longing for good morals. Good morals lead to elevation of faith driven thoughts. Faith driven thoughts cause a stirring of spirit. A stirred up spirit causes God to notice.
God notices you. God blesses you. Your life will never be the same. This, my friends, is your life having run full circle. You are now part of positive change.
Hallelujah!
We are experts at ignoring ourselves. We fill the hours of our days with things that divert our attention away from us. We work because we have to pay the bills (because what are the odds of winning the lotto). We are in school to obtain a degree. We care for our children, spouses, parents or grandparents who are ill or elderly. We are raising a family and arrange for a multitude of activities to keep them well-rounded (it would be inhumane to have a child who couldn’t throw a baseball from first to second base properly while simultaneously playing basketball, soccer, learning karate, taking part in ballet and art lessons and attending a learning center for improvement of school work). We are working on a relationship, and sometimes it can be draining (don’t forget now, we could be the one who is draining the other by our chop chop attitude). We cope with family or friends who seem to attract drama (because we all know it’s not you). And if that is not enough, we fill our days with long lists of things to do, as if we didn’t already have enough stress.
At the end of our day we plop ourselves in front of the television as a happy reward from all things done or left undone. We even go so far as to immerse ourselves into television trials, car chases, and reality shows. We engross ourselves into the lives of others such as music artists, big screen celebrities, and television personalities. We watch and form opinions over the media’s daily display of their lives until every last ugly detail is dug up and exhausted.
But do the problems of the world, the fictional storylines in a movie, the laughs we have over a sitcom or a late night talk show host that takes digs at the day’s “people in the news” really make us happy.
We have all heard that anything worth having takes self-sacrifice so that we are able to enjoy the attainment of the end product. We may have saved for a new book, music cd, cell phone, car, house, vacation, school trip, new church building, funeral expense for the future or for the unexpected loss of a loved one. We may have worked overtime, skipping some really cool parties to save money, shared meals, ate from the fridge rather than a restaurant, shopped at the dollar store, saved recyclable containers, stopped buying clothes, cutting our own hair (oh well, the rest of the world must suffer while you scrimp), a garage sale, car wash, and even sold candy. It felt good once we attained those things (of course that is after we griped about it as we went through the process). Self satisfaction is a wonderful thing, wouldn’t you agree?
How long did it make us feel good? Perhaps until we found something else that we wanted or something else that we were forced to do. Sometimes we find ourselves wanting things we don’t need. We want things we can’t afford. We will even go into debt just to obtain our latest desires (boo hoo, our subconscious is the constant victim of advertising). What is it that we are searching for? What are we lacking? I imagine you’ve heard money can’t buy happiness, love or friends. Well, some might argue that they have, but what happens when the money runs out? What is left? Where are the friends? Where is that person that said they once loved you. We are once again back to self.
Let’s get stirred up! Challenge ourselves. Rather, challenge our unconscious-selves. Let’s find out who we are behind our tasks, behind our money, behind our mouths. Allow ourselves to explore the side that is buried beneath layers of “stuff” (or junk, I’m not sure). It will be truly a remarkable day and experience when we discover our true-selves once stripped of our unconscious protection, “our lives”.
Your unconscious self is your spiritual self. Uh oh, don’t let that scare you off. I know spirit has gotten a bad wrap. Well, I am not speaking about bad spirits left behind in a home where a person may have died nor am I talking about being over-the-top “a spiritual person” (however, loving God beyond anything on earth is not a negative thing, rather it has immense blessings attached to it – other story, some other time). I’m talking about how you feel inside. Webster’s Dictionary definition of spirit: breath, courage, vigor, the soul, life. Another definition: the thinking, motivating, feeling part of man, often as distinguished from the body, mind, intelligence. Another: life, will, consciousness, thought, regarded as separate from the body. Once aware of one’s spiritual-self life is stirred to an extraordinary elevated level.
In the midst of the wild pace of life stop for some sorely needed “down-time”. Make a decision to allot for the most important activity of the day, “me-time”. Enjoy the quiet. Take distinctive steps away from the hustle and bustle of a noise-filled life.
Try this. It will not cost you a dime. You can go dressed any which way you like. You won’t have to do your hair or even take a shower (yikes, it’s okay, you’ll be by yourself). No gas in the car required. You won’t have to cart around a heavy purse, tote bag, sports bag, or wallet. All that will be required is an itsie, bitsie, teenie, weenie, bit of time.
Before you read on remember: anything worth having will require some self-sacrifice. Enjoy the experience.
Stand outside your home at dawn when the sun is just beginning to rise, when the brisk morning air is a perfect mix of warmth and cool morning dew. Close your eyes for a moment while breathing in and out slowly. Listen as the birds sporadically chirp in layers as if waking the world person by person, house by house with a sonnet. Open your eyes and begin to walk through your neighborhood and as you pass the neighbors’ homes look closely at their landscaping, at the vibrant diverse colors that somehow work together perfectly. Watch how the flowers that were closed as if sleeping start to open as they wake to the first hints of the morning sun. Witness the humming birds feeding off of sweet flowers and the ants as they start their morning parade. Take in the incredible sight of the water drops that are holding on to grass blades sparkling from the first morning rays. Watch with wonder as birds swoop and glide from tree to tree as they move through their morning rituals. Smell the sweet aroma of honey suckle shrubs and vines that fills the brisk morning air like perfume. So early and perfect is the time that the darkness from the night harmonizes with the first light of day creating a perfect non-descript heart warming color. Then finally turn to yourself. Commence a heartfelt prayer to your Creator giving thanks as you awaken your mind and body to His works. Be awed by the miraculous body that was formed for your existence. Behold your breath as it moves through your air passages to your lungs, become aware of your blood as it pushes through your perfect limbs and vital organs that gives you life, and detect the pulse points on the sides of your neck, on your head, your wrists. Imagine your soul and the vigor and life that it possesses; sense the serene feeling that allows it’s existence without clutter or distraction. Feel the motivation that is stirred up from the feeling of purity of mind. Clutch the ignition of your faith that comes from simply knowing you are loved by God. There is not a more perfect time in your day when you get into “self”.
You are now aware of your spiritual-self and your life is roused to an extraordinary elevated plane. Have you ever experienced such a wonderful moment in time, as being completely aware of what it’s like to be “you”.
Stay with me now. Don’t be too disappointed about what is to come because you can change the outcome. Are you ready? Let do it.
As the sun starts to warm the earth and touches the plants, flowers and our bodies, things start to change. The sound of the birds’ sonnets that were light with beautiful verses and rhyme are now musical and is slowly becoming more intense, and finally reaching a crescendo to match the height of the bright morning sun.
The human aspects of the world are coming to and the peace slowly is fading from it’s intimate place. Metal garage doors begin to open, cars move about the street as people head to work and school. They do not notice you pass and you hear the hurried and harsh first conversations of families as they rush to their morning destinations. The illumination of the solar lights that kept a comforting protection for the home during the darkness has now turn out and the beauty of this earth has begun to fade away. Other walkers are moving about the neighborhood keeping their stride and to their side of the street, joggers pass without even a glance at you. How quickly beauty turns to dreariness.
We have an opportunity, rather, a responsibility to keep what the Lord has given us and hold it in it’s highest esteem. We can preserve and carry this wonderful feeling of our spiritual self throughout our day and lives. Change begins with us. Make every minute of everyday like the perfect morning. Acknowledge people, wave, greet, smile, help and forgive them. Stop and smell the roses, touch their delicate skins and enjoy the splendor of the beautiful colors and aromas.
An awareness of God and his creation kindles an internal love. Love brings on a thankful attitude, which blossoms into a grateful feeling. A grateful feeling will bud an enlightened spirit. An enlightened spirit will develop a helpful disposition. A helpful disposition will heed a positive reaction. A positive reaction will spark a genuine smile. A genuine smile will stir up a warm heart. A warm heart will attract other cool, tepid, and tender hearts. Now filled with compassion, hearts will work and win against resistance. Resistance will surrender as it loses its force. Lack of force means less agitation. A shortage of agitation eradicates pettiness. The disappearance of pettiness causes us to see the good in others. The good in others becomes a desirable quality. A desirable quality develops into good values. Good values cause a longing for good morals. Good morals lead to elevation of faith driven thoughts. Faith driven thoughts cause a stirring of spirit. A stirred up spirit causes God to notice.
God notices you. God blesses you. Your life will never be the same. This, my friends, is your life having run full circle. You are now part of positive change.
Hallelujah!
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